Estonia becomes 17th member of the euro zone

Estonia has become the 17th member of the eurozone - the first ex-Soviet state to adopt the EU single currency. The changeover from the kroon to the euro started at midnight 1st January 2011 in the small Baltic nation of 1.3m people.

Despite market pressure on the eurozone and the Greek and Irish bail-outs this year, polls suggested most Estonians wanted the euro. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip marked the event by withdrawing euros from a cashpoint: "It is a small step for the eurozone and a big step for Estonia," he said, holding the euro notes.

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Posted by andrew, January 5, 2011. Post has 0 comments.
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Currency of the criminal

Britain axes 500 euro note over organized crime fears. Such is its popularity among criminals, the 500 euro note has earned itself a nickname - the Bin Laden. It is so called because you know it's out there, you know what it looks like, it moves around a lot but no-one ever sees it. But the note's days as a favorite for organized crime gangs, terrorists and money launderers may be numbered after it was withdrawn from circulation in Britain.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said there there was 'no credible legitimate use' for the notes - which are worth £426 each. UK wholesalers agreed to stop selling the distinctive pink and purple note last month after Soca investigators found nine out of ten were used for illegal activities.

The move is likely to heap pressure on the European Central Bank to withdraw the note from circulation entirely. It remains legal tender in the UK and there are fears British criminals will now simply source their 500 euro notes on the continent, or turn to the smaller value 200 euro note which is worth £170.

Before the ban came into force, Soca found one backstreet money supplier which imported more than £4million worth of the notes in a single year - more than the number used by major high street banks.

Big money: the world's largest denominations

• Euro - 500 note, Value in Pounds £426
• US $ 100 note £67.19
• Chinese Yuan 100 note = £9.83
• Australian Dollar 100 note = £60.20
• Canadian Dollar 100 note = £65.99
• South African Rand 200 note = £17.95
• Swiss Franc 1,000 note = £609.86
• Singapore Dollar 1,000 note = £487.18
• Russian Ruble 5,000 note = £112.31
• Indian Rupee 1,000 note = £14.94

Posted by andrew, May 13, 2010. Post has 1 comments.
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Volkswagen "banknote"

To continue our subject about "what we can do more with paper money and coins", we can say: banknotes are cheap and effective advertising area.

In times of financial crisis all people want to save money, including big companies such as Volkswagen AG. They had to announce that Volkswagen offers the perfect car: Volkswagen BlueMotion vehicles need little fuel for little money. How did they this? They just stamped a route on Euro banknotes. It showed how far you’ll drive with a BlueMotion for the Banknote’s value. 5,000 modified banknotes were put to circulation by daily money transfers of Volkswagen dealers and Volkswagen Service shops.

click to enlarge the poster

To visualize how far for how less you get they used the medium with the highest relevance for their target group: The Euro banknote itself. With a smart trick they turned it into a unique advertising space for free. With a little investment into stamps we got the attention of more than 50,000 people. After three weeks the click rate on www.bluemotion.de increased by 14%.

Posted by serge, November 18, 2009. Post has 0 comments.
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